HELENE BERGER

HELENE BERGER Helene Marie Berger, 84, passed away, at home with her family, Thursday, March 28, 2013. She is the last of the 11 Vallez children of Bay City, Mich. to join the French Connection family reunion in Heaven. Helene was born Feb. 18, 1929, in Detroit, to parents, Henry and Sada Vallez. After graduating from Michigan State University in 1951, she began her education career, teaching elementary school in Saginaw, Mich. She married in 1953 and settled with her husband in Denver, where she raised her five children and continued her career teaching at St. Vincent de Paul parish. In 1979, Helene and her husband fulfilled a long-time goal and moved to Las Vegas, where she continued teaching at Our Lady of Las Vegas parish. Although long retired from the classroom, she continued to teach all around her. Helene is survived by her husband, John D. Berger; and all of her five children and their families, Carl Berger and Sarah Heiner, Anne Gravett, Jim and Marianne Berger, Laura Berger and Richard Duvernay, and Mary and Joseph Dramise. Helene is also survived by 13 grandchildren, Margaret, Patrick, Samuel, Maxwell, Doug, John, Kevin, Kyle, Joey, Jason, Derrick, Jenna and Julie; and her two great-grandchildren, Makayla and Anika. Burial will be private. Join the family in a memorial Mass for Helene at 11 a.m., Saturday, April 20, at St. Viator Catholic Church, 2461 E. Flamingo Road. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Viator or Catholic Charities.